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Friday, 28 February 2014

Welcome to the March creation for Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra, using Bugaboo digital stamps. This months image is called Nutcracker 2.
I have chosen to make a gift box rather than a card this month. It is a three sided box that can be cut from an A4 sheet of card very easily by hand. The card used here is an embossed gold card I found at a show some time ago, it has 'Seasons Greetings' written all over it and some holly sprigs.
Each side has a Nutcracker on it, coloured with Graph It pens and layered on green card before being stuck on the gold box. I did all this with the box flat as it was much easier to handle. If they don't all line up exactly it won't show because you never see them all at the same time once the box is made.

The tag is also cut from the same card, I have coloured one of the holly sprigs on the tag with the pens for added decoration. It is all tied shut with green curling ribbon which also holds the tag.
The box is big enough to hold anything approximately 1.5 inches round and up to 5 inches tall, a small bottle of something nice, chocolates or a small selection of alcohol markers.
You have a whole month to create something for Christmas, a card, a gift or a decoration and link it up with us at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra, see you there!

Friday, 21 February 2014

I am falling behind on my Christmas cards so I have made a concerted effort this week to join in with my favourite challenges. Snow, trees and landscapes are all running at the moment so I got to use one of my favourite stamps to bring it all together.
I have used a Crafts Too embossing folder, Snowflake Banner, on Centura Pearl white card and trimmed the edges. Penny Black's Snowy Park has been stamped in Cobalt Blue Archival ink, then covered with a layer of double sided sticky sheet and run through the same embossing folder. This gave me a line to cut to so that the image plate would fit into the framed area. Once cut out I then peeled off the top to reveal the sticky layer and covered it with clear glitter.
I wanted to add some ribbon along the banner but also wanted to keep the frame intact so I cut along the edge of the frame with a sharp knife to make a slot for the ribbon to pass through, the ribbon now passes behind the image panel and frame. My embossed panel is mounted on to dark blue card that matches the ribbon and then on to a white card blank.
For a finishing touch I have added some tiny clear gems to the centre of a few snowflakes, giving it a little dimension but still flat enough to post.

Wednesday, 19 February 2014

This time our challenge at The Male Room is for a retirement card. Please pop over and take a look at the DT inspiration, they're all quite different.
My card is decoupage, it's using a sheet I've had for some time, so I can't tell you where it came from, I'm trying to use up some of my stash as it's getting out of hand!
I've kept it simple, with just the decoupage, the greeting and a couple of corner peel offs to finish it off. I have tried stamping my corners but usually mess one of them up, and it's always the last one, it helps balance the greeting too (that's my excuse anyway!).
You have two weeks to come over and join us. It doesn't have to be a card, it could be a scrapbook page or a retirement gift you've made, anything as long as it's for a man.

My apologies for being late with this post, a mixture of half term and a few days away at the craft trade show in Birmingham got me all muddled up, I thought I had scheduled this for this morning. Pop back later in the week for a few ideas picked up at the show from some very creative people.

Saturday, 8 February 2014

Having spent a day at my friends house playing with paint this is what I brought home. Well that's not entirely true, I brought home a painted and part decorated 12x12 canvas that needed a few finishing touches.
I've not done anything like this before so it was quite something to just let loose and splodge with only a rough idea of the end product. All I knew was it needed to be greens and I wanted to use architectural bits and bobs. It's best to have a very basic plan because it really evolves as you play. My hardest thing was to let go of the uniform approach and the urge to keep things 'as they should be', like not putting two hinges on and having the lock in the middle!

We began by covering the canvas in different colours of acrylic paint, it really didn't look very inspiring at that stage! Once dry I added some dabs of gold with bubble wrap, some mica misters through a stencil and some gold texture paste through another stencil, plus a little black cat in the corner.
We had lunch then as you can't really hurry the drying of paste too much. The tissue in the corner is Tim Holtz tissue added with a matt medium underneath and over the top to seal it.
Stamping with ink seems to get a bit lost on a bold canvas so we stamped with acrylic paint, just remember to wash your stamp off as soon as you are done. It is also best to support the canvas underneath so you get a good impression. I had been itching to use Chocolate Baroque's Gothic Fragments, I love the church window. I have also used their Texture Fragment stamps on here to do the silver bit across the middle. Neither set has been mounted on foam so that I can bend them, to use only part of the image or to stamp on uneven surfaces or round corners.

I also used a script stamp and the phrase 'Art washes away.....' which is also a Choc B stamp.
The hinge and keyhole are cut in Grunge Board with a Sizzix Bigz die Hardware Findings, then given the 'rust' treatment from Tim Holtz book, both are attached with tiny brads through the canvas. The key is from an old necklace found in a charity shop to which I've added a tassel and a tiny tag, all held in place with a screwtop brad coloured with alcohol ink to match the chain.
The oval in the textured area is stamped with a 'Y' on cream card, then distressed with Old Paper and stuck on with matt medium. Once dry it was distressed again with Vintage Photo to tone it down a bit.
The whole thing changes with the light because I've used some acrylics with a sheen to them, mica sprays and gold texture paste, as well as metallic paints and metal findings.
This has been so much fun to make and I like it so much it's actually up on my living room wall! Hey, does this mean I'm finally an Artist? Fake or Fortune? definitely not fake and sadly not fortune either, just FUN! Thanks Jane.
If you would like to try one of these and you live in Norfolk, England then give Aldridge Crafts a call and book a workshop. I can guarantee you'll have lots of painty fun.

Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Welcome to another shaving foam marble creation, this time a Valentine for The Male Room.
We are looking for something romantic made for a man in your life, it could be a card, a gift or a scrapbook page.
This card began with a background made using shaving foam and a Cosmic Shimmer Mister called Lava Red. If you look closely you can see the shimmer in places, it only comes out on the first print though, after that it's just the colour that remains. To find out more you can view a tutorial at Technique Time Tuesday.
I tried to make a heart shape in my foam, it sort of worked but not as well as I'd hoped. That sent me on a hunt for my Chocolate Baroque Elegant Heart stamp which I've been itching to use. I stamped on white card and embossed in black, then coloured the heart with an alcohol marker. I have used a mixture of gold gel pens and Stardust Sakura pens to fill in all the details. Once dry I cut it out with scissors and blackened the edges with a marker pen before mounting it on foam pads on the marbled card. It is at an angle so that it follows the flow of the foam as if it was melting.
I have used satin mirri card and red pearl card to mat and layer on to a black card blank, there is a red heart inside to write on. I chose a black card as the background was a little pinky, I felt it needed to be toned down a little for a male card. There are fancy peel off corners added to finish it off.The Male Room challenge is open for the next two weeks, so please come and show us what you made for your man.

Tuesday, 4 February 2014

This months challenge at Technique Time Tuesday is to use Shaving Foam Marbling on your creation. There is a photo tutorial on the blog to help you through the process, yes it's a bit messy but it's a lot of fun!
Whenever I have demonstrated this technique it has been a hit with young and old, my son loves doing this although I'm not sure if it's for the finished article or the fun of playing with shaving foam.
I thought I would play around with some die cut shapes and use them as masks but the results were not that good, but at least the shapes were useful. I found that small shapes tended to ooze over the edges, larger worked better. These flowers were first generation print, the butterfly was second and the background was fourth generation. As you can see it gets paler each time and if you're using mica sprays the shimmer is only on the first print.

The butterfly has been silver embossed with a fancy swirl stamp, flower stamens added to make his antenna and foam pads under his wings to make them stand up a little.
The flowers are die cut with a Spellbinder die Aster Flower Topper, the outer petal edge is stuck down but I've left the middles free to stand up (they will flatten for posting). To finish them off there is a clear gem in the middle of each flower.
I used Cosmic Shimmer Misters to marble with, then used the purple one to sponge the edge of the white card blank so that it matched. The pink layer is white card coloured around the edge with a Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid ink pad, much cheaper than buying lots of pearl card. There is also a small layer of silver mirri card to add some shine and tone in with the butterfly.

This technique is one of my favourites, it's so much fun to do. Every print is different and the benefit of using foam over water is the image you make doesn't carry on moving while you reach for the card. Pop over to Technique time Tuesday and have a look at the tutorial and the amazing DT samples.

Monday, 3 February 2014

Today's card is for House Of Cards, this month we have a colour scheme to follow with a hint of roses in the photograph.
I have tried to make my card look like an old painting hanging on the wall of a grand old house. A shabby frame holding an aged painting that hangs on a wall covered in fancy wallpaper and instead of the artist name on a plaque there is a greeting.
I have stamped with a rose from Chocolate Baroque's set Steampunk Butterfly using Archival Ink Watering Can, which is a lovely grey ink, on to cream card. The card is distressed around the edges with Old Paper Distress Ink and stamped over with a crackle stamp in the same colour. The roses are coloured with pencil, they were the only true peach colour I could find in my stash. I have left the background roses uncoloured.

The frame is die cut with a Spellbinder from satin gold card and distressed with brown acrylic paint. The frame and image are mounted on foam pads above a patterned background from a Trimcraft paper stack.
I have coloured the cream card blank green, the cream looked a little stark. The artist plaque is die cut with Tim Holtz Tattered Banners and folded so the middle stands up a little, with a small peel off greeting attached.
This colour challenge last all month but the card style will change in two weeks, this fortnight is Shabby/Vintage or Cute & Fun. CAS or Classic/Elegant later in the month follows later in the month. We would love you to join us, so pop over and see the DT inspiration at House Of Cards.

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About Me

I've been crafting for as long as I can remember, thanks to the encouragement of my family. I'm a freelance demonstrator and designer based in Norfolk, UK. I am also on a few design teams and get to work for some great suppliers in craft shops and at shows.